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New Year’s Eve: Celebrate in Glasgow

A cork-popping ceilidh

Dance the night (and the wee hours) away with Ceilidh Minogue, Scotland’s favourite ceilidh band, plus a five course banquet when you need a breather. Don’t worry if you’re not familiar with Scottish dancing – you just follow the directions called out by the band and let the music sweep you off your feet. Find out more.

A stomping street party

Celebrate under the stars at Ashton Lane’s legendary street party, just a ten minute cab ride away. Enjoy an array of street food, fireworks, live music and entertainment, and lashings of Glaswegian hospitality as you count down to the new year.

A disco den

Electric slide into the new year at Drygate Brewery’s Northern Soul, Motown and Disco Hogmanay – and if you can say that at the end of the night, you haven’t sampled enough of their brews. Along with live music and DJ sets, your ticket also includes a three course Hogmanay meal in the downstairs brasserie. Find out more.

A city centre celebration

Bringing back their much loved Hogmanay party for another year, Merchant Square will be kicking off 2020 with all its trademark Glasgow charm. There’ll be live performances from The Bonnie Scots Showgirls, Emma Hale, The Brightside and The Foxes, along with a DJ and a balloon drop at midnight.

Oh, and if you want to blend in, don’t link arms until the final verse of Auld Lang Syne. It’s a rookie mistake.

Sing in the new year, Glasgow style.

Book aparthotel in Glasgow.

New Year’s Eve: Celebrate in London

Watch from the river

On New Year’s Eve the Thames is adorned with dozens of glittering cruise boats, all with a great view of the fireworks. Or, if you fancy the James Bond experience, you could always go for a speedboat.

Watch from on high

Head for the hills with your cosiest coat and a flask of boozy hot chocolate. We think the best views are from Alexandra Palace, Primrose Hill, and Parliament Hill or Hampstead Heath.

Watch from your apartment

Of course, there’s no view in town that can compete with HD cameras on helicopters. So, pop a bottle of bubbly, snuggle on the sofa or even have a little soirée of your own – just don’t forget to turn on BBC One at five to midnight.

Cool and quirky New Year’s Eves

If you’re staying at one of our City aparthotels…

Party like it’s 1399 at the Ivory Vaults, where you’ll enjoy a six-course Medieval banquet. Order a mead or two from your serving wench as you watch knights, jesters, dancers and acrobats perform in your honour. You’re only a short stumble from one of our short stay apartments on Fenchurch Street.

If you’re staying at Native Bankside…

Party with RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Raja at the gorgeous LaLiT Ballroom for the party of the decade. Expect an utterly debauched “eleganza extravaganza”, with great music, bubbly and a four-course Pan-Indian dinner. Here you’re only an 18 minute walk back to bed at our hotel near Southbank, Native Bankside.

 

Ring in the 2020s in one of our holiday apartments in London.

Native Manchester: The Sunday Times Award Winning Hotel

The rooms

rooms

When you’re ready to head up to your room, “the lift whisks you up to what might be the swankiest hotel corridors on the planet”, according to Matthew Davis at the Sunday Times.

All our apartments are airy and spacious, boasting rich, gorgeous quality furnishings and décor, a pantry stocked with a few locally sourced goodies, and fully equipped kitchens with everything you need to whip up a proper meal. The plush Gainsborough beds mean a lie-in is inevitable and the rainfall showers are too luxurious not to linger in.

As for the penthouses, they have “a deco/maritime feel, with huge mirrors, velvet chairs you can’t stop stroking and a sprawling private terrace with Peak District views. These rooms start at £315 a night, a steal if there are four of you.”

 

The city

city

We’re proud to have breathed new life into a building that’s Manchester through and through.

“This has been an extraordinary opportunity to take one of the great icons of Manchester’s industrial past and turn it into a major cultural and social destination for the city,” said Native Founder and CEO Guy Nixon. “Manchester is a thriving, culturally rich and fast expanding city so it seems apt that we are unveiling the new breed of Native’s aparthotels here at Ducie Street Warehouse.”

Intrigued? You can read the full article here or the coverage in the Manchester Evening News.

Or just come and stay. We think you’ll love it too.

See it for yourself at Native Manchester and find out more with us.

Best Christmas Markets in Glasgow

The traditional ones

If you’re a chestnuts-roasting-on-an-open-fire kind of festive fan, you’ll want to head to George Square (about 2 minutes from Native Glasgow) and St Enoch Square (a mere 6 minute walk away) for gifts and knick-knacks, hearty food and steaming cups of mulled cider.

At St Enoch Square, you can feast on the classic bratwursts and hog roast, or go off piste with a bit of local duck rotisserie or crêpes. At George Square you’ll find the city’s stunning 15 metre Christmas tree, a vintage Helter Skelter and carousel, and Santa himself, who’s essentially a living advent calendar, giving out treats to kids every day. You may be lucky enough to get an apartment on the east side of the building that has views over George Square, where you can watch the festive fun from the warmth of your own room. The location is so good that we even had a party in our penthouse apartment with our friends at El Perro Negro to watch the Christmas light switch on over George Square.

St Enoch Square Christmas Market

 

 

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Until Sunday 22 December
Sunday to Wednesday: 10am – 7pm, bars open until 10pm
Thursday to Saturday: 10am – 10pm

George Square Christmas Market

 

 

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Until Sunday 29 December
10am – 10pm every day, 10am – 6pm on Christmas Eve

Find out more.

The indie ones

A Vegan Connections Christmas 2019

 

 

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Saturday 14 December, The Briggait, Bridegate

A glittering Christmas market with a vegan twist, Vegan Connections will be hosting 35 stalls serving hearty food and selling thoughtful, ethically sourced gifts.

There’s also a charitable side to the market, with proceeds from the raffle and other fundraising going towards The Glasgow Winter Night Shelter.

Sloans Market

 

Every weekend, 11am to 5pm, Sloans Lane, between Argyle Street and Buchanan Street.

Brilliant independent traders from across the country gather at Sloans Market every weekend, and things turn seriously festive throughout December. The stalls are quirky and original, the pub there serves great food and you might even catch a piano playing elf or two.

Merchant Square Craft & Design Fair

 

 

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Every Saturday, 11am–6pm
Every Sunday, 12pm–6pm

Merchant Square’s regular craft fair is twinkling with fairy lights and scented with spice at this time of year. From handmade baby clothes and soaps to artwork and photography, it’s perfect for a bit of last minute Christmas shopping.

Plan your festive escape and book your stay in our art deco boutique hotel in Glasgow.

Best Christmas Markets in Manchester

The food

 

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Let’s be honest, it’s the main reason we seek out Christmas markets every year. But Manchester isn’t content with grilled bratwursts and glühwein.

Mancunians know their food, so they’ll be heading to Yard & Coop for on-the-spot fried chicken, Mango Rays for brilliant burritos or Little Spain for paella, chorizo rolls, patatas bravas and hot sangria. If you’re a little worse for wear after last night’s Christmas party, you’ll want to make a beeline for Northern Soul Manchester for a grilled cheese sandwich that’ll cure all ills.

The Ice Village

 

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The Ice Village in Cathedral Gardens is home to Manchester’s outdoor ice rink, as well as enormous and beautiful ice sculptures, Santa’s grotto, a mini ice slide for little ones and an Ice Tiki bar for the grown ups.

The rink is covered with a clear roof, so you’ll never have to worry about the weather, and you can book your skating slot now.

The stalls

 

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If you’ve exhausted the Arndale Centre and still have Christmas gifts to buy, the market is your friend. You can pick up things you wouldn’t find anywhere else, like bitter rose liqueur and roasted apple liqueur from O’Donnell Moonshine, handmade organic and vegan beauty products from The Buddha Beauty Company or a one-of-a-kind puppet from Artichoke Wooden Toy, to name but a few.

 

Plan your Manchester market crawl

Here are a few links to make sure you get to see and do everything Manchester’s Christmas market has to offer:

A map of the market

What’s on at the Ice Village

Book your ice skating slot

Book your spot at Santa’s Grotto

A list of all 300+ food and gift traders.

Plan your festive getaway and book your stay at Native’s aparthotel in Manchester.

Best Christmas Markets in London

If you’re staying at Native Bankside…

 

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Just a leisurely 15 minute walk from your apartment is Christmas by the River at London Bridge City. This year there’s a vintage ski theme, with chalet-style stalls selling gifts and goodies between the Pier and Tower Bridge. It was even voted the best Christmas Market to impress a first date in the UK, if you’re feeling romantic.

Book your Christmas break at Native’s serviced apartments near London Bridge.

If you’re staying at Native Hyde Park…

 

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London’s best known and most family friendly Christmas market has to be the one at Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, which is only 20 minutes from Native’s Hyde Park hotel, at the Marble Arch side of the park. It’s free to enter, so you can browse the fairy-lit wooden chalet shops at your leisure. There’s also ice skating around the pavilion, shows for all ages, ice sculpting workshops and more.

If you’re staying in Hoxton or Shoreditch…

 

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You won’t want to miss Christmas Wednesdays at Columbia Road. Every Wednesday evening throughout December, the independent shops alongside the famous flower market hold Christmas shopping evenings that double up as a great evening out. There’s music and food, and you can explore over 60 shops full of artisan jewellery, books, homewares, toys and fashion. Try to catch local vicar Adam Atkinson, who is famously wheeled down the street on a piano singing carols every year.

 

If you’re staying near Covent Garden…

 

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As you can imagine, Covent Garden goes all out for the festive season. The Piazza is so packed with stores and stalls that it’s the perfect one-stop-shop for all your Christmas presents. The decorations are both enchanting and Instagrammable, and there’s late night shopping on Thursdays. If you need to refuel, head to the Covent Garden Christmas Cart for mulled wine, mince pies and other seasonal treats.

The best of the rest

Christmas at Canopy Market | kingscross.co.uk
Southbank Centre Winter Festival and Winter Market | southbankcentre.co.uk
Crafty Fox Christmas Markets, various locations | craftyfoxmarket.co.uk

Book your last minute festive getaway. You know you want to.